Owners of other General Motors vehicles such as the Impala, Sonic, Cruze, Volt, Corvette, Camaro, Tahoe, Colorado, Equinox, Traverse, Buick Regal, Enclave, LaCrosse, GMC Acadia, Terrain, Yukon, Cadillac CTS, ATS, XTS, Escalade, Pontiac Grand Prix, Grand Am, G6, G5, G8, Aztec, Alero, Silhouette, Bravada, Aurora, and Oldsmobile Intrigue may also find these DIY front brake job instructions to be helpful.

The items needed to complete this procedure include a tire iron, a floor jack, two jack stands, a 14mm socket or standard wrench, a 3/8" drive ratchet, a "screw-in" type disc brake piston tool such as the Lisle 28600 and a new set of rear brake pads.

Then slightly loosen the lug nuts on the rear wheel(s) before raising the vehicle with the floor jack.

Securely support the car with at least two jack stands.

Spin the five lug nuts off the rest of the way and set them aside in a safe place.

Pull off the rear wheel to reveal the rear brake caliper, bracket and rotor.

A brake line near the upper caliper bolt makes it difficult to use the socket and ratcheting wrench so you'll need to loosen it with a standard 14mm wrench or an adjustable wrench instead.

Pull the old brake pads out of the caliper bracket. If you trouble removing them, try wiggling them as you pull.

On this 2011 Malibu, the wear bar was situated at the bottom of the inner pad.

In order to ensure optimum braking performance, the two caliper slider pins should be removed and lubricated if necessary with brake caliper grease.

Gently pull the caliper pins out of their rubber dust boots. If they appear dry, generously lubricate them with a high pressure "moly" grease or "caliper pin" grease.

Push the caliper slider pins back in until the rubber dust boots snap back into place over the lip at their ends.

Like many modern sedans with rear disc brakes, the Chevy Malibu has "screw-in" type rear caliper pistons that need to be turned back with a special tool rather than compressed with a standard "C" or "F" clamp.

I prefer using the Lisle Disc Brake Piston Tool # 28600. Test fit the different sides of the cube shaped piston tool until you find the side with the best grip on the piston. It should be the side with the two large "nubs" or "pegs" diagonally opposite each other.

To allow the brake fluid to more easily travel backwards through the system, move to the engine bay and remove the brake fluid reservoir cap by twisting it off counter clockwise.

Place the tool against the rear caliper piston and very slowly turn it clockwise to retract the piston backwards into the caliper assembly.

Replace the brake fluid reservoir cap as soon as possible since brake fluid is "hygroscopic" and readily absorbs moisture from the air.

I've had good luck with the Wagner ThermoQuiet PD1033A rear brake pads. They are simple to install with no backing plates, shims or lube required and have great reviews on Amazon.

Gently lower the caliper over the new pads and down into the bracket. If the caliper won't fit over the new pads, you may need to turn the screw-in piston back a bit more.

Line up the bolt holes in the caliper with the bolt holes in the caliper slider pins. Insert the two caliper bolts and tighten them by hand a few threads to prevent them from becoming cross threaded.

Tighten the caliper bolts to just past hand tight or about 25 ft lbs of torque. It may be impossible to get a torque wrench on the upper caliper bolt due to the brake line being in the way.

Double check that both caliper bolts are tight before continuing on to the next steps.

It would be best to bleed the brake lines at this time in order to flush out the old fluid and replace it with fresh DOT 3 brake fluid. For more on this topic, check out my Brake Line Fluid Bleeding With An Assistant DIY Guide or alternatively the Brake Line Fluid Bleeding With A Power Bleeder Guide.

If you haven't already, don't forget to replace the cap on the brake fluid reservoir by twisting it on clockwise.

Slightly tighten the lug nuts with the tire iron before lowering the vehicle off the jack stands and the floor jack.

Progressively tighten the lug nuts in a "criss-cross" or star pattern to about 1/4 to 1/2 turn past hand tight. It would be best to use a torque wrench or an air gun with a torque stick to tighten the lug nuts to about 75-100 ft lbs of torque.

Sit in the driver's seat and firmly press the brake pedal a few times to restore the brake line pressure. Then check the brake fluid in the reservoir and verify that it is at the proper level.

To properly break in your new front brake pads, just drive as you normally would for the first few hundred miles while trying to avoid any hard or "panic" stops which may glaze over the new brake pads and cause them to be noisy and not perform as well.

It's also a good idea to regularly examine your driveway for drops of brake fluid which may indicate a leak, check the brake fluid level in the reservoir, and also check that the lug nuts are still properly tightened. 

Please check out my other 2008-2012 Chevy Malibu Repair & Maintenance Guides.